Thanks for coming back for me, Doctor
by SHConsultMe
Summary: Prompt fill for a winner of my one-shot give away on Tumblr: Fandom: Doctor Who; Pairing: The Doctor/DoctorDonna; Plot/Prompt: what if Donna had been able to handle her Time Lord half after the Meta-Crisis (albeit with difficulty) and they had kept travelling together?; Genre specifications: angst, hurt/comfort, romance. I wrote this in just a few hours so please keep that in mind!


Donna wished she could say it was a day like any other, but when she woke up with her head throbbing and the last vestiges of what she could tell had been a wonderful dream, about adventures, and a man...It slipped away before she could remember much more, and she rubbed at her head with a bit of an irritated scowl. "What a way to start a morning." She crawled out of bed and sleepily made her way to the kitchen, her stomach making its needs known. However, she slowed to a quiet tip toe as she got closer, hearing her mother and grandfather arguing.

"Sylvia, I saw it! I saw the TARDIS! Last night, it was out there. The Doctor was out there, Sylvia!" When Donna peered around the corner she could see her grandfather was still bundled up from his nightly star watching expeditions, and he was gesticulating madly as he spoke. Her mother wore a look of disbelief and slight derision.

"Father, please. Stop it already with that nonsense. He wouldn't risk coming around here, he wouldn't want Donna to chance seeing him and causing the Meta-crisis to hurt her. Please, Father, just leave it be. Donna will be down any second now."

But it was too late for her mother's warning. Donna dropped to her knees, a strangled sob forcing its way past her lips as the Doctor's consciousness flooded its way back into her mind. All of her memories, everything she had become during her time with him; it all came flooding back. She put her head in her hands, the pain nearly overwhelming as she suddenly looked upwards, her voice tearing through her vocal cords and her mind, a shrill scream. "DOCTOR!"

-

The Doctor was currently dealing with a situation on Barcelona; a few carnivorous plants that had grown out of control and developed consciousness; they wanted to enslave the race that had enslaved them, when he heard a diluted scream in the back of his mind. He froze immediately, his face twisted in confusion. Someone was calling him? Someone was calling him from inside his mind? He quickly rattled off instructions to the plants and the lizard-like race that had created them; they would have to trust him and take his advice to heart, or else they'd destroy each other.

Then he was off, back on the TARDIS, trying to trace the link in his mind, and relay the co-ordinates to the TARDIS. His face twisted even more as he realized where it was coming from; Donna's house, on Earth. Not too far from the planet he was on now. He quickly kicked the TARDIS into gear, panic flooding his entire body. "No no no, no, no, no, please no, I'll do anything. Just don't take her!" He was yelling at everything and nothing, urging the TARDIS to get him there as soon as possible.

When he finally arrived, however, jumping out of the TARDIS and pounding on the door, he was too late. The Noble family had moved about a year prior, Donna's remembrance happening just two weeks before that. They were gone.

It had been a year and two weeks since Donna had remembered the Doctor. It had only been 3 months since she had woken from the coma the meta-crisis had forced her into, so her mind could repair itself, and make room for the Time Lord consciousness. She had awoken in one of the rooms of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in Queen's Park, London, to find that she had been in a coma for the past nine months. Her mother and granddad had moved not long after she had become comatose, wanting to be closer to the hospital, in case her condition changed. Now she was finally cleared from bed rest, and ready to start her search for the Doctor. Donna flinched as another migraine; side effect from accommodating the meta-crisis; made itself known. She had long since tracked down Martha and Jack, becoming well acquainted with the two of them, and by extension, Ianto Jones, Mickey Smith, and Gwen Cooper. She had worked as a consultant for Torchwood and UNIT for many assignments, in the hopes of finding the Doctor again. So far, no luck.

She was currently perched at Gwen's computer station as Gwen, Jack, and Ianto went and dealt with the Rift, which was puking things out everywhere. She tapped the comms device in her ear and clicked to a different program, her eyes lighting up as she lived up to her 100 wpm reputation. "Alright, Jack, there should be a another Carscapalian around the corner from you. Switch your blaster to A617 dash 89HK setting, you'll have to open the secret compartment to get to the tiny switch. Then shoot the target in the left eye and the abdomen in rapid succession. Gwen, you've got a Zythorian two streets over, you'll want to blast is with a P490 dash 56NT setting pulse, two seconds, in the right leg and left ear. Ianto, you've got a Frantisico about a block behind you, set off a car alarm and then hit it with a 71QS dash O487, right in the nose." She scanned the police reports and the CCTV footage as they came in, directing them where to go when new stuff popped through, while simultaneously working on an equation in her mind that would allow her to rig a small metal compartment with a certain frequency, which would then, when thrown into the rift, seal it temporarily while they tried to figure out what was causing the sudden spike.

She tapped the comms again to turn it off, before whipping out her cell phone and dialling Martha, breathing a quiet sigh of relief when the woman picked up. "Alright, Martha, we've got a huge breach in the rift, and I can see multiple targets popping up in London. A few in Chiswick, and some not too far from UNIT HQ—wait a minute. Martha, patch me through to all the CCTV footage in Chiswick, the targets are going off the radar." She paused as the woman did so, before quickly flipping through the cameras, a scowl on her face. "You haven't got any agents out there, have you? Because I don't think civilians could take out a rampaging Histrifarconian." She swore quietly when she couldn't find anything, the cameras in exactly the wrong place, hiding the TARDIS from her view, and the owner of said spaceship nearby it, fighting off the Palaronedia that had just killed the Histrifarconian. "Martha, it looks like we've got an unknown target attacking the other targets. Deploy agents immediately, got it? Thanks, let me know if you catch wind of any developments." She flipped the phone closed, quickly returning her mind to Wales; UNIT could handle London. "Jack, Gwen, Ianto. How is it going?"

-

The Doctor had wandered from Donna's old residence after apologizing a few times to the new owners. Donna's family had moved. They were gone-. His hearts clenched in his chest. Did that mean Donna was gone-? He shook his head roughly, refusing to let despair get a leg over on him. So lost in his thoughts he was that as he stood by the TARDIS, about to unlock it, he was caught off guard by a Palaronedia that seemingly flew out of nowhere, knocking him down and trying to claw at him. He swore quietly, shoving it up and rolling over, hopping to his feet and swatted it away when it dove at him again. He quickly pulled out his sonic screwdriver, changing it to the right frequency while backing himself closer to the TARDIS. He held it up and pushed the button down, the high frequency too high for him to hear, but perfect for causing the Palaronedia to drop and start wailing, covering its ear holes. The Doctor quickly dashed into the TARDIS and pocketed his screwdriver, rushing up to the console and starting it up, running in circles to press all the right buttons and pull all the right levers. With the bang of a hammer on the sweet spot, he was off, relaxing marginally as he dematerialized, not sure where he was heading. It wasn't until he exited and stared at the wide eyed expressions of Martha Jones and a few scattered UNIT agents, that he realized where he was. He took a few steps forward and pulled Martha into a hug, his emotions getting the better of him as he shook gently. There was no way Donna could have survived the meta-crisis. Donna was gone.

-

Donna's eyes shot from the Cardiff CCTV to the Chiswick CCTV when she heard that familiar wheezing type noise of the brakes of a TARDIS left on. She swore colourfully, ignoring when her 'team' asked her what was wrong. She set the program to direct all rift activity to Jack's wrist band, before dashing out of the Hub and getting into her car. She quickly drove to the flat she was renting in Cardiff, calling her mother on the way. "Mum! Mum, I think the Doctor's back. I think he's back!" She fumbled her way through a short conversation with her mother, before hanging up and pulling into the lot. She bounded up into the complex and gathered up all of her stuff, not caring that she still had a few months left on the lease. She was going to go travelling, who cares about flat leases?

It took her about two and a half hours to get to Chiswick, driving up and down her street in a bit of a panic. The Doctor had to be here, she heard the TARDIS. It was about ten minutes of circling the area before she finally pulled over, putting her head on the steering wheel. "Finally lost it, have I? Gotten so far in my desperation that I'm imagining the sound of the TARDIS?" She was snapped out of her inner musings when her phone rang, and she huffed quietly when she answered. "Yes?" It was Martha.

"You might want to get here, quick. I think there's something you'd like to see." With that cryptic message, Martha hung up. Sighing, Donna pulled her car back onto the road, heading for UNIT's top secret HQ.

-

The Doctor shook in Martha's arms for a good hour before finally pulling away, trying to make himself presentable. "I—I'm sorry about that, Martha. I was just overcome...I travelled here as quickly as I could, but it looks like I was too late." At Martha's confused look, he sighed and explained. "I heard Donna, in my head. Screaming for me. I traced the link back to her house, but they had moved out. I guess I came a little too late." His face scrunched up. "And now she's gone. Martha..." He hung his head, shaking it gently as Martha shooed the rest of the agents away. "Martha, I loved her. Even more than I ever loved Rose. What am I supposed to do?"

Martha shook her head gently. "Doctor, please. Wait here a minute? I've got to make a quick call." She quickly moved away, talking in quiet tones with whoever she had called. She was back by his side soon after, patting his arm gently. "It'll be okay, Doctor. I promise."

-

Donna was at UNIT in about twenty minutes, her head still aching slightly. She opted for going in the fun way, hacking into the system from an unguarded supply door, slinking through the ventilation system, her mind telling her Martha's location, based on the echo levels she had heard in the background of the call. When she found the right area, she dropped down gracefully, her back to the Doctor and the TARDIS. "Alright, Martha, what is it that you thought I might want to see?" She slowly turned, before her breath flew out of her lungs in a sharp, shocked sound. "Doctor?!"

-

The Doctor didn't bother to look up at the thump, didn't even look up when he heard someone else moving. He only looked up when he heard that voice, the voice he had been longing to hear since he had left her at her house. His head snapped up and his eyes were wide, a small, distressed noise sounding in the back of his throat. "D-Donna? Donna, you're alive? Wh-How?!" He lurched forward, giving no thought to decorum as he yanked her into a hug. "I missed you so much!"

As Donna was too busy near-sobbing to answer, Martha moved behind the Doctor and whispered in his ear. "She fell into a coma after hearing Wilf and Sylvia talking about you. She was in it for about nine months, and her mind was busy shifting to make room for the Time Lord consciousness. She's fine now, aside from the occasional severe migraine."

The Doctor nodded, before pulling away gently and grinning widely at Donna. "You brilliant girl, you. Of course you would be the human that could survive a meta-crisis!" He pulled away and ran a hand through his hair, relief making his shoulders sag. "I'm so glad you're okay, Donna. I'm so glad."

Donna gave him a small smile and nodded. "I'm glad you came back for me."

-

They socialized for a bit with Martha, then headed back to Torchwood to finish the device, then temporarily sealed the rift. They said their goodbyes to the team, before getting into the TARDIS and heading out into space and time. As they drift through the vortex, the Doctor finally makes his move, embracing Donna and placing a gentle kiss on her lips. "I love you, Donna Noble."

Donna just laughs quietly. "Shut it, spaceman, and kiss me again." And Donna Noble finds a way to effectively shut up the Doctor.


End file.
